Simply Put
by AGoldenCharm
Summary: A set of drabbles between Tina/Mike.
1. Chapter 1

**Raking**

Tina Cohen-Chang had never been much of a workout type of a girl. Sure, she loved to dance, and she could appreciate a good run every once in a while. But fitness was never really the first thing on her mind. That's why it blew her mind how difficult raking the autumn leaves really was. She could feel the stitch in her side taunting her: _Weakling, weakling, weakling! _Exhausted, she drops the rake._  
_

Mike is laughing. Something irrational inside her was already boiling from her own frustration over raking.

"It's not funny."

"I never said it was." His laughter clears right away but the damage had been done.

"You were laughing," she inches closer to him and pokes him in the stomach.

"I was laughing because you're adorable." He scoops her in his arms, nuzzling her neck affectionately.

"Liar."

"Am not." He picks up the rake with one hand, keeping his other arm tight around her waist. "But maybe I should take over."

"Sexist."

He pouts his unfair pout that always makes her feel like crying. "How am I being sexist?"

"You think that since I'm a girl, I can't properly rake my own yard."

"Mmm not exactly. I think that since you're getting paler by the second and sweating up a storm, you deserve a break." He kisses her forehead before turning to the yard.

"You're lucky the view's good from here," she huffs, taking a seat on a lawn chair.

He doesn't turn to look at her, choosing instead to shake his butt for her. She rolls her eyes.

* * *

**Flowers**

She had specifically told him that roses weren't really her thing. How could they be? They were sappy and generic and weren't even that pretty to begin with. He had nodded thoughtfully when she had asked him to promise not to get her any roses. That was never a good sign. Whenever Mike Chang's mind started reeling, she could always expect a surprise- whether or not it was a good one.

They liked to go out every once in a while for dinner or ice cream. That particular night, he suggested that they go out for Italian.

"Sure," she smiles, always appreciating a night out with Mike.

"I'll pick you up at seven." He looks exceptionally pleased with himself that day, which only causes her to be suspicious.

At seven, he arrives at her doorstep with a jar. A _jar_ out of all the things in the _world_. She takes a closer look at it as she steps out of the house, closing the door behind her.

"Is that...is that origami?" She asks, bewildered at the colorful paper inside the jar.

"Yeah," he looks a little sheepish. "My mom taught me how to make them." He pushes the jar out to her like a kindergartner offering a crayon. "A lady should always get flowers on a date," he says softly.

All she could do is stupidly say, "I thought your family was Chinese."

He bursts out laughing, "We are Chinese, T. My mom's just really good with crafts. Do you like them?"

She opens the jar and pours a couple out onto her hand. They are made with paper with very adorable prints and she can't help but smile. "I love them."

* * *

**Library**

"What are you doing?"

Mike's soft, familiar voice sounds from behind her.

"I'm studying," she says quietly, her hands protectively clutching onto a textbook.

"During lunch? We were all wondering where you were. And I felt like a horrible boyfriend when I said that I had no idea."

She laughs, "Is that all you're worried about? Your reputation as a boyfriend?"

"No!" He sounds genuinely hurt. "I like eating lunch with you. I was lonely." He kisses her cheek, pulling up a seat next to her and reaching for her book. "_SAT Prep Book_? T, are you serious?"

She frowns, "Yes, I'm _serious_. My parents say that if I don't do well, I shouldn't even consider dating anymore since it's 'clearly a distraction' for me."

This seems to hit home for Mike. His eyes widen immediately and he pushes the book back to her. "Well, in that case, could we be study buddies? Go on library dates together and nerd it up?"

Tina shakes her head, chuckling. "'Nerd it up'? Who even _uses_ that expression?"

"I do! Now are we officially study buddies or not?" He grins, pouting his lips for a kiss.

She obliges. "We're officially study buddies."

* * *

**Lace**

The entire glee club is sitting sullenly in the choir room, cutting up pieces of fabric for their costumes. It's totally quiet in the room, except for the soft sound of snipping and the occasional cursing from Puck.

Tina hands Mike a pile of lace to shear down and he accepts them grudgingly. She hears him make a small noise in the back of his throat and she turns around to face him.

"Mike, you _have_ to help cut," she whispers under her breath. "Don't try to get out of this."

"No, it's just that..."

"_Mikeee_."

"It's just-"

She holds her index finger up to his lips to shush him but he pulls her hand away and leans into her ear, his breath soft and warm.

"It's just that this reminds me of a pair of your panties- my favorite ones."

She can feel herself blushing scarlet.

* * *

**Notebooks**

They sit next to each other during math because they like to play footsie under the desk and he likes to keep a protective hand on her thigh.

They are supposed to be learning about limits one day when he reaches over to draw a little heart on her notebook.

She rolls her eyes and tries to hide a smile because deep down inside, she thinks he's being cute.

His eyes rake over her notebook and he leans over slowly.

"You forgot the 'Cohen' when you wrote your name," he whispers, pointing at the front cover of her notebook.

She flushes because she didn't forget.

* * *

**Smells**

He is waiting by her locker after her chemistry class, just like always. He is smiling faintly, just like always. When she runs up to give him a hug, he breaks out in a full-out grin, just like always. But as she pulls back and scrutinizes him for a second, she realizes that something is different this time.

"Are you wearing my _scarf_?" She asks, gaping. He definitely is because it's her favorite white cashmere one with the gold trim.

"You left it in math class when you ran off to the bathroom," he shrugs. "It's warm and it smells like you."

"You're crazy," she laughs.

He narrows his eyes. "You always wear my jackets. I should be able to wear your scarf."

"Fair enough. Your jackets always smell like _you_," she pipes up. "I love them."

"See?" He sets his jaw, "I'm not crazy. I love the way you smell."

She shakes her head, chuckling, as they walk off to glee rehearsal together.

* * *

**Mall**

She drags him along with her sometimes, and he always pretends to hate it, but they both know he not-so-secretly enjoys it. He usually buys an iced coffee drink for them to share and they go store-hopping, usually to the ones she wants to go to, but occasionally to the very hipster stores he shops at.

They pass by Victoria's Secret and he stops dead in his tracks.

"Let's go in," he suggests with a coy smile.

"Mike Chang, are you saying you don't already like the underwear that I currently own?"

"No, I'm saying that that set would look unbelievably sexy on you," he points to the mannequin in the display case. It's sporting black lace with hot pink trim and even though she's not really a hot pink type of girl, the look on his face is worth _way_ too much to give it up.

She taps his chin gently, "Come on, Mike. Pick your jaw off the floor." She pulls him into the store and he immediately goes to pick out a set in her size (how he even knows her size is completely beyond her but for some reason, she's not particularly surprised).

She reaches over to take it from him so she can pay for it but he marches right up to the counter and slaps down some cash to the very amused cashier, a blonde college girl who looks from Mike to Tina and then back to Mike again with a very knowing look in her eyes.

* * *

**Slushies**

Her favorite flavor was cherry, and his favorite was grape, but cherry was his favorite flavor _for_ her because after she drank it, her lips would turn a lovely shade of crimson and it made them that much more kissable.

One minute they're putting Tina's textbooks back in her locker and the next moment they've both got dye and ice and corn syrup dripping down their faces. She can vaguely hear the jocks laughing and high-fiving each other and she wipes the slushy away from her eyes, looking up at Mike.

"Sorry about that," she says softly, wiping some of the ice off of his face, then kissing him gently on the lips, tasting the sweet, artificial cherry flavor.

"It's not your fault," he shrugs. "You got grape, though. And I got cherry. Maybe we can trade?"

She laughs at the silly suggestion but nods, "Here, this will make it easier." She licks the red syrup from his neck, where it's dripping down. He follows suit, trailing his tongue around her mouth, where the slushy had landed.

"Get a room, you two," Santana rolls her eyes as she saunters by.

* * *

**Disagreements**

"Maybe we can go out for ice cream tonight," he suggests as they walk to where his car is parked.

"I can't," she says softly.

"Why not?"

"I- I'm meeting up with Artie at the library for our history project."

He grows quiet, just like she knew he would.

"You're working with Artie?" he asks, his voice dangerously soft.

"Mike, _please_. I just don't know that many people in that class and we figured it'd be easier since our schedules our similar because of glee and-" she is rambling by this point and she cuts off, staring at him hopelessly.

"You know how uncomfortable he makes me," he says uneasily, opening the passenger door for her because that's just what he _did_.

She climbs in. "I _know_, Mike. It's just a project, it'll be over in less than a week."

He is silent the whole way to her house and she keeps reaching for his hand and even though he holds her hand in his, he is still stony.

"Do you want me to cancel on Artie tonight?" She asks gently.

"No," he says, his voice strained but he is doing his best to remain courteous. "It's okay. I have to go- I've got a doctor's appointment in fifteen minutes."

"Okay," she pouts a little but does her best to keep things okay between them. She kisses him carefully on the temple and he gives her a half-smile before driving away.

* * *

**Waiting**

She walks home from the library that night, feeling accomplished for finishing the project but miserable because somewhere out there, Mike is sulking.

She doesn't have to wonder where, though, because she finds him sitting on her porch, his eyes downcast and his foot tapping.

"_Mike_? What are you doing here?"

When he hears her voice, he jumps up immediately and she notices a small white box in his hands.

"I'm sorry," he says simply, reaching out one hand for her to hold.

She takes it. "You don't have to be."

"But I am," he hands her the box.

"What is this?"

"Nothing really," he says dismissively, but she knows that usually this means that it's _definitely _something.

And in this case, she marvels as she carefully opens the box to find a blingy-looking pair of skull earrings, it _is_ something. She tells him this.

"Okay," he agrees. "It's a peace offering."

She laughs. "We were never at war."

"Fine," he wraps his arms around her. "I just needed an excuse to be waiting for you when you got back from working on your project with Artie so _I _could be the last person you see tonight- not him."

"Aww," she smiles and plants a kiss on his lips. "But technically, my parents will be the last people I see."

"Yeah," he agrees, "but I'm not jealous of _them_."

She cracks up, standing on her tippy-toes for a kiss.

* * *

**Protection**

The new semester begins and they find themselves in the same health class, which Tina finds simultaneously hilarious and awkward, as the teacher describes contraceptives and STDs and other extremely uncomfortable topics and the whole time Mike is just waggling his eyebrows at her and she can't stop laughing.

They watch a video about teen pregnancy and Mike is aghast when they watch father after father ditch the poor teenage girl after finding out about the baby.

"Would you ever do that to your future wife? If you had to?" She whispers as yet another father declined to be a part of the situation.

"No, I would never do that to you," he says absent-mindedly, his eyes still glued to the screen and she secretly wonders if he noticed that he has just inadvertently called her his future wife.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that wraps up this set of drabbles. :) Hope you guys enjoyed it, let me know what you thought/what you might like to see in future drabbles. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: More coming your way! :) Enjoy.**

**

* * *

**

**Soup**

"You're sick."

"I am _not_," she folds her arms defiantly. Mike knows that Tina is very proud of her health. She guzzles water every day like it's her job and she always, _always_ dresses in layers.

"T, I think you just coughed up New Mexico," he says gingerly, rubbing her back. "Maybe I should bring you home."

"We have a math test next hour," she tries to hold back a cough but it ends up coming out like a hacking noise.

"So? You can make it up later," he assures her. "Come on, let's get out of here." He slams her locker shut and took her hand, tugging for them to leave.

She doesn't follow, however. Instead, she keels over at the waist, coughing and coughing and coughing and at this point, Mike decides that drastic action must take place. He gently peels her messenger bag away from her, swinging it across his shoulders, and then bends at his knees.

"What are you doing?" She manages between coughs.

"I'm carrying you," he says matter-of-factly. "Walking will do nothing for your coughing." He scoops her up into his arms despite her weak protests.

"I'm not sick," she whispers as he makes his way down the hallway, ignoring the stares coming from students in all directions.

"Sure you're not," he smiles. "But I'm still breaking open a can of Campbell's when we get to my place."

"We're going to your place?"

"Of course we are."

"Are you going to nurse me back to health?" Tina teases.

"I thought you said you weren't sick?"

She doesn't talk to him the whole way home.

* * *

**Pajamas**

She is drinking the chicken noodle soup and he is watching her because the way she looks down at her soup as she drinks it causes her eyelashes to do this fluttering thing that he finds unbelievably attractive and is it wrong that he wants to jump into bed with her even though she's miserably ill?

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

He grins, "I'm not staring at you," even though he totally is and he knows the reason, too- it's because she's unbearably sexy _all the damn time_ and he practically has to sit on his own hands to keep them from roaming across her body.

"Are too," she frowns.

"You're arguing like a five year old today," he smirks, taking the empty bowl away from her and bringing it to the sink.

She ignores this, "I can't believe you're skipping class today."

He shrugs, "My girl doesn't belong in school today, so neither do I."

"You're going to have to make up the math test, too."

It's his turn to ignore this, because he knows that she knows that he'd make up a hundred math tests for her. "I think it's nap time for you," he declares, scooping her up from the couch. He secretly likes to carry her because she is always warm and soft and it makes him feel safe and comfortable.

"I'm not tired," she protests.

"Just like you aren't sick?" He raises an amused eyebrow.

"Shut up."

He kisses her forehead as he carries her up the stairs and steering to the left to bring her into his room. He gently places her on his bed and makes a beeline for his closet.

"What are you doing?" She asks from the bed, her voice beginning to sound like a bit of a croak.

"Finding you PJs," he calls from the closet, picking out a white t-shirt that he outgrew in middle school and tossing it over to her. "Just gotta find you my old PJ pants."

"Don't bother."

He turns around to face her, confused. "Why not?"

She is already changing, stripping off her heavy black dress, revealing a set of white, lacy underwear that he can't help but stare at. "I'll just wear the t-shirt." She pulls the t-shirt over her head, much to his dismay. Her long, slender legs are showing, and the t-shirt barely skims past her underwear and all he can do is gulp. She is doing that thing where she bites her lip and lowers her gaze and glances at him through a curtain of hair.

That's it for him. He jumps onto his bed with her and tickles her before wrapping his arms around her as tight as they'll go because sometimes, it's just impossible not to touch her. Not to _be_ with her.

* * *

**Better**

He is surprised to see her at school two days later, since the night before he had texted her to stay at home if she didn't feel well.

"What are you doing here, T?"

"I'm all better!" Her complexion is brighter and it's clear that she really _is_ feeling better.

He laughs, "If you say so." He reaches for her hand but is surprised when he realizes that she's already reaching for his and so they just meet in the middle instead.

She stands on her tippy-toes and leans into his ear, "Maybe now we can do more than just nap on your bed."

He shivers.

* * *

**Post-it Notes**

He recently has gotten into the habit of using them because Tina uses them. They're actually extremely helpful, especially since he can be a little bit absent-minded. The other day, Puck had laughed himself silly when he saw Mike's planner filled with little pastel-colored sticky notes.

"Dude, _post-it notes_? _Girls_ use post-it notes."

Mike knows Puck is just being his usual obnoxious self, and as Mike glances over at him, surveying Puck's toothy smile and raised eyebrows, he knows that Puck is just screwing with him. Mike shrugs.

"Tina uses post-it notes."

* * *

**Ballad**

They are at Starbuck's one day after school, sharing a frosty pastry that he had convinced her to try.

"Do you remember out ballad assignment last year?" Tina asks suddenly.

Of course he does. How could he have forgotten? It was literally the first time he had begun to fall for her because her voice was just so damn perfect and every time she tried to get him to harmonize with her, she was so _so _patient.

_"Maybe I should just dance. You can dance to ballads, right?" Mike had said nervously, tapping the piano with his index finger._

_"Don't be silly," she had scoffed. "The whole point of a ballad is to tell a deep, meaningful story to _each other_. It should be mutual impact. Come on, let's try it again."_

_Her sweet voice filled the room and he tried his his hardest to match it as she played the keys on the piano but she stopped abruptly._

_"I'm going to sing a major third up, okay? You stay on those same notes."_

_"I don't know what that means!" He practically wailed, feeling a little like a girl._

_She laughed and shook her head, "Just do what you've been doing." _

_They start again and this time, her notes were slightly higher and he started to panic but he listened intently to the piano and tried so hard to get his stupid voice to match the piano and she stopped again and he's positive that he had disappointed her as a ballad partner._

_"Sorry," he mumbled shamefully._

_"No, no! That was good," she smiled. He couldn't tell if she was just saying that to be nice or if she was actually telling the truth but by the way her eyes were sparkling, he crossed his fingers for the latter.  
_

_"Tina?" He piped up softly, unable to meet her eyes. "Is it okay if we don't perform this for the rest of the glee club?"_

_She flashed him the brightest, most comforting smile he had ever seen in his life. "Of course. This one can just be for us."_

_

* * *

_**Orchard**

"Can we go apple-picking?" He eagerly asks one day as they're walking to math class together.

She stares at him blankly before cracking up. "That's so random. Why?"

He shrugs, "I saw a flier for it on the school bulletin board."

"We have a school bulletin board?"

It's his turn to laugh, poking her gently in the side. "Yes, my ill-informed girlfriend. And I'd like to take you because it'd be fun and I secretly like it when we bake apple pies together."

It's their little thing, because one day Tina had been reading a magazine and had ripped out a recipe for him to see and they tried baking it together because why the hell not?

"You just like to eat them," she shakes her head.

He denies it but it's actually kind of true since he's such a klutz in the kitchen and she can measure out two cups of flour in five seconds flat- he timed her. But he was getting better, and he was foolishly proud of his own improvement.

"So can we go?" He's throwing in his puppy-dog eyes, just to be safe.

"No need to do that," she places her fingers on the bridge of his nose because she is _so_ calling him out on his eyes. "I'd love to go with you."

* * *

**Nutella**

His mom is mad at him one day because she opens their pantry to find the nutella for her morning toast and the jar is completely empty.

Mike shrugs, feigning innocence when really, he and Tina had spent the entire afternoon on his bed with their legs intertwined and their foreheads practically touching, eating the nutella straight from the jar and off of each other's fingers.

* * *

**Streaks**

He is sitting on her bed, his long legs swinging off the sides because for some reason, her mattress is insanely high off the ground. He asked her at one point if she was ever scared of falling off and she admitted to having nightmare about it before.

Tina is in the bathroom, and so he's already both missing her and a little bit bored. He lets his eyes wander and he finds a row of colorful boxes. He stands up to take a closer look. They are all dyes- presumably for the streaks of color in her hair that changes from red to blue to pink right before his very eyes day by day.

He doesn't hear her when she comes back into her room, but he feels her when she wraps her arms around his middle, peeking her head around his left side.

"Hi," she kisses the spot behind his ear that always makes him shiver. "You want one?"

"One what?"

She wordlessly motions toward the cans of dye.

His eyes widen. "A streak?"

"Sure," she grins. "We can even do green, since it's your favorite color."

He's touched that she remembers but the dye is looking more and more menacing.

"You don't have to," she laughs.

That does it for him. Now that she's said those words, he _has_ to. He picks up the can of green and hands it to her. "All right, all right. Do me."

"Oh, I will," she winks and he can't help but flush bright red.

* * *

**Green**

"Dude, is that _green_ in your hair?" Finn is appalled the next day before glee rehearsal.

Tina hasn't arrived yet so he's sitting with the guys and they're all gaping at his green streak.

"Yeah," Mike shrugs.

"Did Tina make you do it?" Puck grins.

"She didn't _make _me," Mike says defensively.

"That means she did," Puck translates for the rest of the guys and high-fives Finn. "You are _soooo _whipped, Chang."

He shrugs, "If that's what you want to call it."

* * *

**A/N: Hopefully you guys liked that! :) I'll continue with the drabbles, but I'm also thinking of starting another story (gotta spread the Tike love ;) ), so keep your eyes open for that!**

**Don't forget to review and possibly suggest some ideas for drabbles that you'd like to see? :D  
**


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